Land Charges

 

Section 3 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996  and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

The registers and the index

(1) The registrar shall  keep at the registry in the prescribed manner the following registers

     (a)     a register of land charges;

     (b)     a register of pending actions;

     (c)     a register of writs and orders affecting land; and

     (d)     a register of deeds of arrangement affecting land,

and shall keep there an index whereby all entries made in any of those registers can readily be traced.

(2) Every application to register shall be in the prescribed form and contain the prescribed particulars.

(3) Where any charge or other matter is registrable in more than one of the registers kept under this Ordinance, it shall be sufficient if it is registered in one such register, and if it is so registered the person entitled to the benefit of it shall not be prejudicially affected by any provision of this Ordinance as to the effect of non-registration in any other such register.

(4) An office copy of an entry in any register kept under this section shall be admissible in evidence in all proceedings and between all parties to the same extent as the original would be admissible.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, registration may be vacated pursuant to an order of the court.

(6) In this section "index" includes any device or combination of devices serving the purpose of an index.

 

Section 5 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

Registration of land charges

(1) A land charge shall be registered in the name of the estate owner whose estate is affected.

(2) A mortgage created before the date on which this Ordinance comes into force may be registered as a land charge before any transfer of the mortgage is made.

(3) The expenses incurred by a person entitled to the charge in registering a land charge of Class I (other than an estate contract) or by the Commissioner of Tax in registering a Tax Charge shall be deemed to form part of the land charge, and shall be recoverable accordingly on the day for payment of any part of the land charge next after such expenses are incurred.

(4) In the case of a land charge for securing money created by a company as a floating charge, registration under section 95 of the Companies Act 1948 in its application to the Falkland Islands shall be sufficient in place of registration under this Ordinance, and shall have effect as if the land charge had been registered under this Ordinance.

 

Section 7 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

The register of pending actions

(1)           There may be registered in the register of pending actions-

1. a pending land action;
2. a petition in bankruptcy filed after the coming into force of this Ordinance

(2)           Subject to general rules under section 17 of this Ordinance, every application for registration under this section shall contain particulars of the title of the proceedings and the name, address and description of the estate owner or other person whose estate or interest is intended to be affected.

(3) An application for registration shall also state-

1. if it relates to a pending land action, the court in which and the day on which the action was commenced; and
2. if it relates to a petition in bankruptcy, the court in which and the day on which the petition was filed.

(4) The registrar shall forthwith enter the particulars in the register, in the name of the estate owner or other person whose estate or interest is intended to be affected.

(5) An application to register a petition in bankruptcy against a firm shall state the names and addresses of the partners, and the registration shall be effected against each partner as well as against the firm.

(6) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a petition in bankruptcy if the application is made by the registrar of the court in which the petition is filed.

(7) A pending land action shall not bind a purchaser without express notice of it unless it is for the time being registered under this section.

(8) A petition in bankruptcy shall not bind a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith, for money or money's worth, unless it is for the time being registered under this section.

(9) The court, if it thinks fit, may upon the determination of the proceedings, or during the pendency of the proceedings if satisfied that they are not prosecuted in good faith, make an order vacating a registration under this section, and direct the party on whose behalf it was made to pay all or any of the costs and expenses occasioned by the registration and its vacation.

 

Section 8 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

The register of writs and orders affecting land

(1) There may be registered in the register of writs and orders affecting land-

     (a)     any writ or order affecting land issued or made by any court for the purpose of enforcing a judgment or recognisance;

     (b)     any order appointing a receiver or sequestrator of land;

     (c)     any bankruptcy order, whether or not the bankrupt's estate is known to include land.

(2) Every entry made pursuant to this section shall be made in the name of the estate owner or other person whose land, if any, is affected by the writ or order registered.

(3) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a bankruptcy order if the application for registration is made by an official receiver.

(4) Except as provided by subsection (5) of this section and by section 37(5) of the Supreme Court Act 1981 and section 107(3) of the County Courts Act 1984 (which make special provision as to receiving orders in respect of the land of judgment debtors) in the application of those provisions to the Falkland Islands under the provisions of the Administration of Justice Ordinance, every such writ and order as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, and every delivery in execution or other proceedings taken pursuant to any such writ or order, or in obedience to any such writ or order, shall be void as against a purchaser of the land unless the writ or order is for the time being registered under this section.

(5) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, the title of a trustee in bankruptcy shall be void as against a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith for money or money's worth unless the bankruptcy order is for the time being registered under this section.

(6) Where a petition in bankruptcy has been registered under the proceeding section, the title of the trustee in bankruptcy shall be void as against a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith for money or money's worth claiming under a conveyance made after the date of registration, unless at the date of the conveyance either the registration of the petition is in force or a receiving order on the petition is registered under this section.

 

 

Section 9 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

The register of deeds of arrangement affecting land

(1) A deed of arrangement affecting land may be registered in the register of deeds of arrangement affecting land, in the name of the debtor, on the application of a trustee of the deed or a creditor assenting to or taking the benefit of the deed.

(2) Every deed of arrangement shall be void as against a purchaser of any land comprised in it or affected by it unless it is for the time being registered under this section.

 

Section 13 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997)

Date of effective registration and priority notices

(1) Any person intending to make an application for the registration of any contemplated charge, instrument or other matter in pursuance of this Ordinance or any rule made under or having effect under this Ordinance may give a priority notice in the prescribed form at least the relevant number of days before the registration is to take effect.

(2) Where a notice is given under subsection (1) of this section, it shall be entered in the register to which the intended application when made will relate.

(3) If the application is presented within the relevant number of days thereafter and refers in the prescribed manner to the notice, the registration shall take effect as if the registration had been made at the time when the charge, instrument or matter was created, entered into, made or arose, and the date at which the registration so takes effects shall be deemed to be the date of registration.

(4) Where-

1. any two charges, instruments or matters are contemporaneous; and
2. one of them (whether or not protected by a priority notice) is subject to or dependent on the other; and
3. the latter is protected by a priority notice,

the subsequent or dependent charge, instrument or matter shall be deemed to have been created, entered into or made, or to have arisen, after the registration of the other.

(5) Where a purchaser has obtained a certificate under the preceding section, any entry which is made in the register after the date of the certificate and before completion of the purchase, and is not made pursuant to a priority notice entered on the register on or before the date of the certificate, shall not affect the purchaser if the purchase is completed before the expiration of the relevant number of days after the date of the certificate.

(6) The relevant number of days is-

1. for the purposes of subsections (1) and (5) of this section, fifteen;
2. for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, thirty;

or such other number as may be prescribed, but in reckoning the relevant number of days for any of the purposes of this section any days when the registry is not open to the public shall be excluded.

 

Other relevant forms:

 

Section 11 (Land Charges Ordinance 1996 and Land Charge Rules 1997 - come into force on the 5^th May 1997 )

Searches

(1) A person may search in any register kept under this Ordinance on paying the prescribed fee.

(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1) of this section, the registrar may provide facilities for enabling persons entitled to search in any such register to see photographic or other images or copies of any portion of the register which they may wish to examine.

 

Official searches

(1) Where any person requires a search to be made at the registry for entries of any matters or documents, entries of which are made or allowed to be made in the registry by this Ordinance, he may make a requisition in that behalf to the registrar, which may be either-

1. a written requisition delivered at or sent by post to the registry; or
2. requisition communicated by teleprinter, telephone, telephonic facsimile transmission or other means in such manner as may be prescribed in relation to the means in question, in which case it shall be treated as made to the registrar if, but only if, he accepts it;

and the registrar shall not accept a requisition made in accordance with paragraph (b) unless it is made by a person maintaining a credit account at the registry, and may at his discretion refuse to accept it notwithstanding that it is made by such a person.

(2) The prescribed fee shall be payable in respect of every requisition made under this section; and that fee-

1. In the case of a requisition made in accordance with subsection (1)(a) of this section, shall be paid in such manner as may be prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph unless the requisition is made by a person maintaining a credit account at the registry and the fee is debited to that account,
2. in the case of a requisition made in accordance with subsection (1)(b) of this section it shall be debited to the credit account of the person by whom the requisition is made.

(3) Where a requisition is made under subsection (1) of this section and the fee payable in respect of it is paid or debited in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, the registrar shall thereupon make the search required and-

1. shall issue a certificate setting out the result of the search; and
2. prejudice to paragraph (a) of this subsection, take such other steps as he considers appropriate to communicate that result to the person by whom the requisition was made.

(4) In favour of a purchaser or an intending purchaser, as against persons interested under or in respect of matters or documents entries of which are required or allowed as aforesaid, the certificate, according to its tenor, shall be conclusive, affirmatively or negatively as the case may be.

(5) If any officer, clerk or person employed in the registry commits, or is party or privy to, any act of fraud or collusion, or is wilfully negligent, in the making of or otherwise in relation to any certificate under this section, he commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding the maximum of level 7 on the standard scale.

(6) Without prejudice to subsection (5), no officer, clerk or person employed in the registry shall, in the absence of fraud on his part, be liable for any loss which may be suffered-

1. by reason of any discrepancy between
2. the particulars which are shown in a certificate under this section as being the particulars in respect of which the search for entries was made, and
3. the particulars in respect of which a search for entries was required by the person who made the requisition; or
4. by reason of any communication of the result of a search under this section made otherwise than by issuing a certificate under this section.